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Month: July 2018

Spirituality and healing are deeply intertwined. Modern medicine recognizes the power of the mind to help heal the body, and the impact of a patient’s spiritual state on the healing process. Any attempt to improve our physical health should be coupled with an upgrade in our spiritual health. On many levels, the body and soul are in parallel.

A medical treatment will only be effective if it is compatible with the patient. Factors such as blood type, genetic make-up and family history will determine whether a particular treatment is appropriate for a particular person. A practitioner would be derelict in their duty if they did not first investigate the patient’s background before deciding how to treat them.

The same applies to spiritual remedies. Your soul’s family history must be taken into account before embarking on any spiritual path. If your soul make up is Jewish, it needs Jewish spirituality to be healthy.

Healing practices can be borrowed from any culture. Stretches and exercises, breathing and relaxation techniques, herbal remedies and natural medicines, if they have been tried and tested and pose no danger, may be helpful, no matter where in the world they come from. These practices don’t need to come from a Jewish source in order to heal a Jewish body.

But once a remedy crosses over into the realm of the soul, your family history must be taken into account before we can determine if it is appropriate for you.

A healthy organism is one connected to its roots. Study Torah and plug in to your soul’s source. You need it for your health. Your doctor doesn’t have to be Jewish. Your spirituality does.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Bluming, Rabbi Moss based on Igros Kodesh Volume 10 p38

In the words of Isaiah engraved in the wall of the United Nations: “…they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks- Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2-4)

But it is a little hard to imagine that in today’s world… how will it come about?

The Messianic era, which we have been waiting for ever since the Temple was destroyed 2000 years ago, will usher in an unprecedented reign of peace. All nations will unite under one G-d with a singular moral purpose. There will be no more war, no famine, and no slow internet. While religious and national identities will remain, the hatred between them will be gone.

No blood need be shed to achieve this. The force of ideas, not the force of weapons, will bring about the redemption. This means some ideologies will need to be adjusted and certain beliefs rejected. But this can be done through introspection from within rather than attacks from without. When truth shines, falsehood falls away.

Sounds impossible? Look at history. Cultures do change. Even religions can reform. Within living memory Germany was a murderous terrorist state, and Japan was a mortal enemy of the west. Those two nations are nothing like that today. Okay, it took losing a World War to get there. But go back a bit further in history. Christianity once condoned the slaughter of non-believers, and that changed without a war. Had you lived in pre-war Germany or medieval Christendom you would have never believed that such change is possible. But it happened.

The Jewish people have always known that the impossible just takes a bit longer. After 2000 years, the time is ripe. We are living in an age of surprises. So don’t be surprised if Moshiach comes and renovates the landscape. Those who were previously classified as enemies will become allies. They will willingly and joyously unite. May it be soon.

As tradition dictates, freshly laundered clothing is not worn during this period (other than Shabbat), however that is only if they are put on for comfort or pleasure. Those who are accustomed to changing their shirts regularly because of dirt or sweat in the heat of summer, may do so even during the 9 days, even if the shirt is freshly cleaned from beforehand.

I was just thinking a similar question: Why are there so many restaurants in our neighborhood? Shouldn’t there just be one place to go eat? I have counted a dozen on one street!

Would we be better off with just one big restaurant? I don’t think foodies would agree. Some love Thai, others prefer Italian. The formal dining experience in one place suits some, while others seek a casual night out. Family friendly fast food joints will not attract the fine diners, and fancy plates with a tiny little gourmet morsel in the middle will not be popular with hungry adolescents. Vegans don’t seem to enjoy steak houses. Carnivores don’t always go for quinoa burgers.

The wide choice of restaurants caters to all the varied tastes and moods. There can’t be a one-size-fits-all eatery.

It’s the same with synagogues. Each one presents Yiddishkeit with a different taste and unique angle. There are Sephardi and Ashkenazi variants, shuls that sing and shuls that don’t, informal and intimate communal synagogues and grand pompous ones, kid friendly and mature audience only. Long sermon, short sermon, no sermon. Every community style fills a niche and attracts different souls. Each custom has its customers. This is not factionalism or doubling resources. It is opening doors and giving options.

The Jewish people are made up of twelve tribes. Each had their own slightly different way of praying, and yet we are all one People with one common Torah. Even the Temple in Jerusalem had twelve different gates for each tribe to enter in their own way. But everyone ended up in the same Holy Temple. Every shul, with its unique style, is a gateway to that Temple.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Bluming and Rabbi Moss

PS. The answer above applies to sizable communities with a critical mass that can sustain many shuls. Smaller communities may not have that luxury. Either way, when we are committed to Torah observance and Jewish unity, we can pray all together or in our own communities and remain one people.

One example is that often one’s passion about Judaism is because they happen to have been born that way but that leads to an important discussion asked of Rabbi Moss and here is his response:

The questioner assumes that I am Jewish by accident. That is false. There is no such thing. The very premise makes no sense.

The postulation “what if I would be born someone else” is as absurd as asking what if a tomato was actually a carrot, or an apple was a Samsung. I am what I am and I can be no one else. My family, my birthplace, my heritage – this is me.

My soul was chosen to be born into a Jewish family. This means that I am the product of thousands of years of Jewishness. I may question it. But it is who I am.

Sometimes a question is a question. And sometimes a question is a cop out. Asking “what if I were someone else?” is an example of the latter.

But even that probably comes from my Jewishness. Questioning our beliefs is an age old Jewish practice we inherited from our forebears. You are born Jewish and you are born questioning. And with all the questions and all the challenges over all the generations, Judaism is still standing strong.

You and I, and all Jews of today, are living testament to the eternity of Judaism. Just by you being you, and me being me.